One theme clearly will dominate this year's International Consumer Electronics Show: catching up with Apple.

Mind you, no companies are putting it that way in their announcements for this week's Las Vegas gadget fest, but the subtext fairly rings out.

The big news, as any tech blog or analyst will tell you, will be the bevy of manufacturers unveiling so-called "ultrabooks." What's an ultrabook? An Intel-based PC that strives to match the MacBook Air's weight, thinness and power.

Apple, incidentally, released its first Air in January 2008 and achieved the breakthrough design everyone's now mimicking - with solid state flash storage and improved battery life - in October 2010.

So, put another way, the big news is that PC makers have caught up to Apple, 15 months late - assuming, of course, the devices are any good.

Depending on whom you ask, companies will unveil anywhere from 30 to 70 ultrabooks. That seems eerily reminiscent of last year's event, when companies showcased dozens of slates in a rush to replicate the success of Apple's iPad.

Nevertheless, we'll see plenty more this week. And the Apple envy won't stop there.

Microsoft is expected to drop a few more hints about Windows 8, its forthcoming operating system optimized for tablets and offering multitouch technology. It'll work sort of like, well, Apple's iOS, which - not to belabor the point - appeared on the iPad in January 2010.

Many companies will also roll out new smart phones in their quest to chip away at the dominance of Apple's iPhone. So far reality hasn't come close to the hype.

Reports are we'll see some new AT&T smart phones running on its LTE network - offering so-called fourth generation speeds - an LG phone powered by Intel's new mobile chipset, Medfield, and plenty of new devices running on the latest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich.

Even the various ultra-high resolution and 3-D TVs on display this year will have to compete with Apple in consumers minds, despite that Apple hasn't introduced a TV. Just the rumblings it will roll out some category game-changer this year or next is likely to hold off many consumers from upgrading the biggest screen in their home.

So does all the CES news still matter, even if the products are behind or inferior to their Apple counterparts? Of course it does. Bringing more options to the market at competitive costs - many will be cheaper than the Apple versions - is always good for consumers.

This year's CES is on track to be the second biggest ever in terms of physical size, with more than 1.8 million square feet of exhibit space booked as of press time, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, which owns and organizes the event. That's up about 9 percent from last year's show.

The popular iLounge, featuring Apple accessories, has swelled from 4,000 square feet when it launched two years ago to 88,000 square feet this year. Apple itself, by the way, hasn't exhibited at the CES since 1994.